The deal was always likely to be awarded to German company Siemens because of its superior financial clout within the European Union, an insider revealed.

Bidding criteria laid down by the last Labour government and overseen by the EU meant the winning firm had to arrange finance for the £1.5billion deal as part of the Thameslink rail project. Siemens, which dwarfs Bombardier in size, has a better credit rating and can secure loans at much cheaper rates. Under EU law, the Government has to award the ­contract to the firm that wins according to the original bidding criteria, which clearly favoured Siemens.

Bombardier this week announced more than 1,400 job losses at its Derby base, with fears of thousands more among suppliers.

As
the Daily Express Battle For Bombardier crusade gathered momentum last
night, a Government source said: “Finance was a major issue. Siemens had
much lower costs due to much cheaper credit.”

Just because another company is bigger, has a more favourable balance sheet and can get its hands on money more easily does not ­necessarily mean it has the best bid

Industry
sources believe Bombardier’s price for the 1,200 carriages was
“competitive” though its tender for maintenance was slightly more
expensive.

Unite official Mark Young, whose
union represents most of the 3,000 workers at Bombardier’s Derby site,
said the fund-raising requirement meant the company was not competing on
equal terms.

He said: “If this is the case it
is quite clear that Bombardier never stood a chance. The only companies
that can ever win a major contract under these circumstances are giants.
It is not a level playing field. It is not fair competition, which is
all we were asking for.”

Derek Clark, Ukip MEP
for the East Midlands, said: “Bombardier has fallen foul of the EU
bidding process. Just because another company is bigger, has a more
favourable balance sheet and can get its hands on money more easily does
not ­necessarily mean it has the best bid. Other countries play the EU
system to their advantage but Britain just follows the rules without any
deviation.” An industry source said: “Bombardier could not match
­Siemens when it came to the balance book and the ability to raise
finances.

“It is a small company compared to
­Siemens who have the financial clout that it could never match. If it
comes to EU rules giving the advantage to the bigger, and not
necessarily the best company, then it makes a mockery of the whole
thing.”

Siemens has an A+ credit rating,
allowing it to pay about 1.5 per cent a year less in interest – worth
£700million over 30 years.